Former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya Claims No War  Crime Committed by him

War crime allegations were levelled against  Former Chief of Defence staff cum Commander of the Sri Lankan Army Jagath Jayasuriya, who served as the Ambassador of Brazil.

He denied the war crimes allegations  made against him by a South American Human Rights Organization. The declaration stating that he gave the final orders to Army units during a humanitarian operation is completely false.

It has been reported that Executive Directress Yasmin Sooka of the Project for International Truth and Justice was responsible for levelling the allegations.

They alleged Jayasuriya oversaw military units that attacked hospitals and killed, disappeared and tortured thousands of people.

The suit also states Jayasuriya was commander of the Vanni Security Force from 2007 to 2009, one of the bloodiest periods in a war estimated to have killed more than 100,000 people. The U.N. estimates  the death toll between 40,000 and 70,000 in  the final phase alone.

The International Truth and Justice Project said,  it interviewed 14 survivors of torture or sexual violence at the Joseph camp(Vanni Camp). According to the group, victims described hearing the howls of detainees at night, which the suits contend Jayasuriya would have been able to hear.

Addressing his position,  the former  Army Commander stated that the government should take a firm stand and not limit their response to issuing statements. He stated that the government should obtain UN assurance that no action will be taken against him for the alleged war crimes.

Speaking to the media at the cabinet media briefing yesterday (30), Military Spokesperson Roshan Seneviratne stated that the Sri Lankan military made a decision to end the civil war through a military effort. He also stated that all accusations made by the NGO against the former Commander were baseless.  Further  Roshan said that the reason lawsuit  filed against the former General  proves that the LTTE Ideology   still prevails  though it was defeated on Srilanka soil.